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I have been looking at and thinking about this topic for quite some time. Because I have not found a way to address it I am either a) correct in my analysis or, haven't thought of it in the way that I need to. I am hoping that the contracting vets on this forum can let me know where I stand.

Issue: Throughout the federal government many agencies have been speaking about a shared services model for acquisitions, particularly IT acquisitions. What they mean by this is a government-wide vehicle where other agencies can simply place orders. Without getting too deep into the weeds on this, let’s assume that Agency X, Agency Y, and GSA (one of the few agencies that have the ability to create government-wide contract vehicles) come together, identify common requirements, and successfully procure a single solution. Let’s also assume that they state it could be used by other agencies, and set a ceiling high enough for this to be practicable.

Question: How could Agency Z then come in and buy off that vehicle? I look at this as a CICA violation either way. I see how GSA could set this up for use, but I do not see how, legally, another agency could simply go to them and use it.

Yes I understand SmartBuy does allow for this to a certain extent (products). Without getting into a SmartBuy discussion, conceptually such a scenario can be arranged for products. The context I speak of is related to solution sets for Cloud Computing or Federal Mobility Efforts.

Any input or direction you could offer would be welcomed. Shared services strike me as a desired end state that is largely rhetorical and not practical. I will caveat that by saying it is certainly possible and doable within a single agency as they pool resources and eliminate redundancy between sub-agencies/divisions. I just don't see how it is CICA compliant when we refer to it between agencies.